Thanksgiving

Whew. I just had Thanksgiving fun (traveling and eating) mixed in with opening a show and doing five performances in three days. It's tiring work to say the least. Add in some sickness recovery and you've got the potential for griping.

But that has all been wiped away.

I'm grateful for all the friends, family, talent, and opportunities I've had this year. It's been concentrated in the past few days. I've realized how much I enjoy talking to audience members. There are some outstanding, generous, and very smart subscribers and donors who love having a dialogue and relationship with the company members. Today, after our matinee, there was a mini reception and I had the opportunity to chat with some supporters who truly adore the work we do here. It's humbling.

It's not about receiving accolades and praise. It's realizing that the work I'm doing in this ensemble is making an impact on the lives of these people. That's why they keep coming back and bringing friends. Yes, it's entertaining, but it's sustaining and revitalizing people.



1940's Radio Hour has the potential to veer toward fluffy "deadly" theatre as Peter Brook would call it. But our production has some deeper elements and I think we're giving a nod to that pretty well. There's alcoholism and war content that broadens the scope and transports people in the audience, whether they were alive during the 40's, part of World War II, or any part of the military period (past and present)--okay, not so much the drinking bit, but it interrupts the radio show within the show for a little bit.

Initially, I wasn't a "fan" of this show, but the more I spend time with it and understand how much it has been affecting audiences and company members, the more I realize this stuff is important. It won't be too long before the folks of the 40's will be gone. This is a tribute to their times, which have plenty of ties to today. And theatre has a unique ability to link all of that together and aid in transporting people to places they weren't intending to go initially. It creates moments of transcendence--whether it's for five seconds, five minutes, or the entire show.

I've managed to feel that while attending shows (but it doesn't happen too frequently since I've got my eye on the acting and other production elements), but those striking moments kind of bash you over the head and feed the soul in ways you can't quite figure out. Art, particularly theatre in this case, changes lives.